BetterBricks promotes an integrated design framework to help designers improve building energy performance.  One key notion of this integrated design method is that occupancy (how and when a building is used) can be understood and managed to both reduce energy use and better serve occupants.

When gathering information for programming, architects should pursue additional detail of how and when a building will be used.  Be sure to ask about potentially different thermal comfort requirements for various spaces and occupancies, and how lighting needs might be met with different ambient and task levels. Gain as much insight as possible into when various spaces are occupied and by how many people. Don’t forget to draw distinctions among conditioning requirements for circulation needs, public spaces, work areas, etc. Each of these occupancies requires different levels of comfort, lighting, and ventilation, with different energy needs. Discuss what it means to be comfortable, in what spaces, wearing what clothes, during what times of day, and how this changes seasonally. Explore potential benefits from providing greater amounts of personal control over lighting, ventilation, and comfort.

Find out when contract services are performed: must cleaning be done in the middle of night, with space fully conditioned and illuminated? Must retail space be restocked after hours? Must entire floors or an entire building be conditioned for a few after hours or weekend workers?
When programming, align space conditioning requirements with each occupancy. During schematic design, zone the building so that similar conditioning and scheduling requirements can be efficiently served within the same zone.

When selecting systems, make sure that controls are able to effectively modulate equipment to meet scheduling requirements. Recent work by the New Buildings Institute (NBI)  researching field performance of roof top HVAC units has found that a significant number of fans operate 24/7 because the most basic thermostats do not provide the fan control necessary to shut fans off during unoccupied hours.

Designers craft aesthetic and technical solutions to meet building needs. Major aspects of the integrated design approach BetterBricks is promoting: climate, building and site design, and systems are firmly in a designer’s comfort zone. However, we have found that occupancy considerations, where discussions of performance touch upon behavioral changes, sometimes generate skepticism (or, less enthusiasm) among designers. Yet, efficiently meeting occupancy requirements is a fundamental integrated design strategy.

Designers, who are unwilling to challenge a client to consider a change in how they interact with a building, may remember the mocking that President Jimmy Carter received a generation ago for suggesting that Americans turn down their thermostats and put on sweaters to save energy. Or they may be dealing with the reality of how tough it is to change behavior—we see it every day, related to eating, smoking, the vehicles we drive, and how we use buildings (how many people habitually turn off lights when they leave a room?). But, people do change their behavior and we are seeing more and more occupants embrace the notion of extended comfort zones, keeping their buildings cooler in winter and warmer in summer to save energy. More efficient scheduling of buildings is bound to follow.

Don’t be afraid to ask your clients to consider malleable schedules. This isn’t really a new concept.   We all have become used to adjusting our schedules twice a year for daylight savings.  One of the reasons that daylight savings hours have been expanded in recent years is the pursuit of energy savings.  And the benefit from scheduling adjustiments may result in reduced capital costs from a smaller more appropriately sized HVAC system and energy savings for years to come.  Even the smallest changes, such as encouraging a significant percentage of employees to start and finish work an hour earlier during the hottest summer months can significantly reduce the cooling load imposed by peak outside temperatures.

When starting a discussion of malleable schedules, position yourself as a bearer of good news, rather than worrying that you may be proposing an idea that solicits groans. Flexible scheduling might provide enhanced job satisfaction for staff, while also reducing operating expense for employers through energy savings. If enough people wish to start earlier and leave earlier during the summer months, significant cooling energy may be saved, with happier employees because of increased summer daylight leisure time? One example is the State of Utah where they recently shifted to a four-day, 10 hour per day schedule, to save energy.

Therefore, be sure to address occupancy issues, as they relate to energy use, early in the design process.  Allowing for, and even encouraging, behavior change can result in higher performing buildings, with lower operating expense, and happier occupants (and clients)